


Last Night

by Aranei



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aranei/pseuds/Aranei
Summary: I readthisadvice column letter and was hit with a plot bunny.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 63





	Last Night

Arthur was awakened by the sound of his phone. He ignored it at first. The warmth of the bed was too good to give up. The second time it buzzed he found himself awake as the memory of the previous evening came back to him. He opened his eyes to see Merlin snuggled close and smiled. He looked so young with his curly, dark hair all a mess and his plump, bow shaped lips slightly open. He was admiring his long neck when his phone buzzed again. 

Arthur carefully made it out of the bed and found his pants on the floor. Grabbing his phone, he headed into the bathroom. Three missed calls from Leon. He sighed before he called him back. “It’s half four, this better be important.”

Leon’s voice sounded stiff and tired, “It Is. We have a level 3 infiltration. The extranet is down.” 

Arthur sighed, “this is really bad timing.”

“I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important,” Leon stated.

Arthur scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fine. I’ll be there in a bit.” He shut off the phone before Leon could respond. He knew in his heart that he shouldn’t leave, but he also trusted that Leon wouldn’t call him except for something really important. 

After using the facilities, Arthur dressed quickly. He searched Merlin’s kitchen for paper and a pen. He left him a note explaining he had to leave for a work emergency along with a glass of water and a couple of paracetamol. When he left it on the bedside table, he leaned over and kissed Merlin on the head. His hair felt silky and smelled of sandalwood and lavender. He really wanted to stay but rushed out as quietly as he could before he changed his mind.

The drive to work sat heavily on Arthur. He in no way wanted Merlin to believe that he regretted last night. Yes, they had been drinking though not enough that either of them were drunk. But Merlin had been feeling blue lately and he had only meant to comfort him when things got real. Did he take advantage? He didn’t think so and he desperately wanted to return to Merlin’s bed, if nothing else to prove he had wanted to be there. When he got to work he sent him a text explaining again why he left.

Leon hadn’t been lying and it had taken hours to isolate the problem and get the extranet back up and running. He hadn’t really had a chance to do much more than drink a cup of coffee. He was tired and hungry as he stopped by his office just before 2. It was then that he remembered to check his phone. Arthur’s heart sank as he read the text from Merlin. I’m sorry. Please don’t be upset. It was all my fault.

He texted him back. Merlin, I’m not upset and their is no one at fault. I really did have a work emergency. 

Merlin’s reply was quick and he could hear the hurt in his words. I understand. I’m sorry. It was all my fault. We should just forget about last night.

Although he was really quite tired, Arthur suddenly felt very awake. He needed a moment to think before he reacted. He had to do this right or it would blow up in his face, or worse, he would lose Merlin.

“Arthur?” Gwen stepped into his office.

Arthur looked up in surprise, “Gwen.”

“Are you ok?” Gwen looked at him with concern.

He rubbed his hand down the side of his face. “Yeah. Nothing some food and sleep wouldn’t fix.”

“Is there anything I can get for you?”

Arthur stared at her for a moment. Gwen was kind and sweet and best of all, friends with Merlin. “Yeah. I want to ask you about something.”

“Sure,” Gwen chirped. “Ask me anything.” She blushed and backtracked, “Well, not just anything, obviously.”

Arthur gave her an amused smile for a moment. “Ok, well, I went over to Merlin’s last night to cheer him up and .. we got together.”

“Got together?” She gave him a confused looked for a second before she understood what he me.“ Oh, Oh my gosh,” Gwen waved her hands excitedly before she stepped forward and hugged him. “Oohh, that’s so wonderful. Finally!”

Arthur blushed a bit as he looked at her oddly. “Finally?”

“Well, yeah.” The smile on Gwen’s face was so bright as to rival the sun. “ You two have been dancing around each other for years. And Merlin, well, he has been in love with you since uni and we have just all been waiting for you to catch on.”

Arthur suddenly felt a panicky guilt terror sickly feeling shoot through him. He kept a smile on his face in hopes that Gwen wouldn’t notice.

“So what was your question?”

Arthur stared at her for a moment trying to think. “My question, well, you answered it. Seems like no one will be surprised.”

Gwen laughed. “Well they might still be. I mean it’s taken a long time.”

Arthur really felt out of his depth. The need to control the situation was suddenly eating at him. “Well, ok. I need you to just keep this between us ok? You know, it’s early and fragile.”

“Absolutely,” Gwen made a motion to zip her lip and throw away the key. 

“Thank you.” Arthur still felt panicked but knowing that Gwen wouldn’t say anything helped.

“Of course Arthur.” She reached out to squeeze his hand before she turned and headed out of his office. 

After Gwen left, Arthur couldn’t stop the thoughts running through his head. He and Merlin were close. They were friends, best friends, and had literally spent years together. If what Gwen said was true how could he not know? And if they were so close, why didn’t Merlin say anything? Without giving it any thought he found himself on Morgana’s doorstep.

“What’s u...Arthur? are you ok?” The look on Arthur’s face had her instantly on alert.

“I don’t know.” Arthur said it with such honesty that Morgana grabbed his hand, pulled him inside and sat him on the couch. She didn’t say anything as she poured him a drink and put it in his hand. She then poured herself a drink and sat down next to him. 

Arthur stared at the glass for a moment before taking a large swallow. “I may have done something stupid.”

Morgana shrugged. “Haven’t we all?”

“I may have destroyed a friendship,” Arthur said as if he had just actually murdered someone. 

“Sounds serious,” Morgana acknowledged.

“It is.” Arthur finished his drink and poured himself a second one. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Ok, just listen, don’t say anything. I thought I was straight but I..” Arthur got up and started pacing. “ .slept with Merlin last night and then I had to leave early because of a work emergency. He didn’t take it well but it’s true. And now he is saying we should just forget about last night but I don’t want to. And then I talked to Gwen because she was there and I wanted to be careful and watch what I said to Merlin. Then she told me that he’s been in love with me since uni and now I don’t know what to think or do.”

Morgana took a moment to take a sip of her drink. “Well, I think it’s clear you aren’t as straight as you think you are.”

“Really?” Arthur glared at her.

“Yes” She grabbed his hand and pulled at him. “Now sit down.” 

Arthur stood there for a moment chewing on his lip before he sat back down. “So is what Gwen says true? Has Merlin been in love with me all this time?”

Morgana shook her head side to side. “I don’t know that I would call it love so much as very intense like. “

Arthur put a hand to his forehead. “Oh my god.” He rose from the couch and paced away from it. “How could I not know? Why didn’t he tell me?” He then turned and paced back toward Morgana. “Why didn’t YOU tell me?” He asked emphatically. 

Morgana sighed. “It’s complicated. Basically, as long as you didn’t know, it wasn’t outright rejection.”

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut. He understood, he really did but it felt heartbreaking nonetheless. “But all those relationships he saw me through. All those women I talked about.”

“Arthur,” she said as she stood and grabbed his arm to make sure she had his attention. “He would rather have you as just a friend and love you from afar than risk losing you all together.” She gave him a sad but encouraging smile.

Arthur slugged back the rest of his drink. “So what do I do now?”

Morgana looked at him thoughtfully, “It sounds like you have two choices. First, you can forget last night ever happened and just go back to being friends or you can try being more than friends and see where it takes you.”

How do I decide?

Morgana patted him on the left side of chest and gave him the biggest smile. “Follow your heart Arthur.”

Arthur left Morgana’s unsure what he was going to do. He got in his car and drove the long way home. The whole time he was thinking about what Morgana had said and realized she was wrong. He had a third choice. He could walk away, delete Merlin’s contact info, block texts but as he thought of doing that he felt his breath catch in his throat. As soon as he was home he stood in his living room and stared at the pictures on his mantel and bookcases. He couldn’t help but notice that Merlin was in most of them and he didn’t want it any other way.

With his mind made up, Arthur showered, shaved and dressed in one of his nicest suits. He picked out a bottle of wine from his collection that he knew Merlin liked. He stopped at the florist for a bouquet of daffodils and forget-me-nots. When he got to Merlin’s building he called a friend for help. 

Gwaine came through the locked gate. “This better be good Arthur.”

“I promise it is.” Arthur gave him his best smile. 

Gwaine whistled, “Well don’t you look fancy. Who’s the girl?”

Arthur smiled and shook his head. “Not a girl.”

Gwaine stared hard at him as if he could determine his intent with just a look He then stepped close to him. “This better be legit Pendragon because if it isn’t…” 

Arthur held up both hands. “I promise it’s legit.”

Gwaine stared at him a moment longer, “Ok. So what do you need me to do?”

“Just get him to come down here,” Arthur stated. 

“I’m gonna need more,” Gwaine stood like a guardian with his arms crossed over his chest.

Arthur wasn’t exactly afraid of Gwaine but he knew he had to be careful. “Ok, but you have to understand that I really did have a work emergency.” Gwaine just continued to stare. “Merlin and I slept together last night. I left him a note and sent him a text but he thinks I left because I was ashamed or embarrassed, but I wasn’t “ 

“So then tell him.”

“I did, but he doesn’t believe me,” Arthur said sadly.

Gwaine pulled his phone from his pocket. “Merls, I need your help. Could you come down and help me bring something up?” Ok, thanks.” He then turned to Arthur. “He’ll be down in a few.”  
Gwaine slapped him on the shoulder, “So what took you so long princess?”

Arthur waited out of view. He was nervous as he tried to think of what to say. It had to be the right thing. Merlin had to believe him. He couldn’t recall ever being this nervous before but then he realized nothing had ever mattered more. And then he heard Gwaine. “It’s over here.” He knew it was now or never as he stepped out from behind the bush with flowers and wine in hand.

“Arthur?,” Merlin said with a slightly pained look on his face. It was clear he had been crying.

Arthur put on his biggest smile as he suddenly knew exactly what to say. “I want to remember last night as one of the best moments in my life.” Merlin didn’t hesitate to rush forward into his arms. Arthur closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Merlin knowing this was where he wanted to spend his life.


End file.
